6　「被爆証言」は米国の高校生にどう響いたのか　米NGOプログラム「Hibakusha Stories」の証言普及活動の場で

抄録

This study focuses on the activities of the U.S. non-governmental organization, “Hibakusha Stories.” The organization is known for presenting testimonies of Abomb survivors to the public, especially to American high school students. This study aims to examine the impact of survivors’ testimonies on students’ perception of nuclear weapons. To this end, the researcher directly observed the organization’ s activities in 2014 and 2015. In addition, American high school students were also participated in a survey designed to gauge the impact of the organization’s activities. In total, results for 1,014 students were analyzed for this study. For instance, after Lee Jong-gun, a South Korean A-bomb survivor, spoke at Calhoun School in New York in 2015, students were asked the following question: “Have your views about atomic bombs and survivors changed?” In total, 49 students responded to this question, and 13 (26.53%) students reported that their outlook had “changed significantly.” On the other hand, 16 (32.65%) students reported that their outlook had only “changed slightly.” Similarly, when Shigeko Sasamori, an A-bomb survivor who lives in Los Angeles, spoke to 58 American students from the same school in 2014, nine students (15. 52%) reported had “changed a lot”, while 29 students (50.00%) answered that their views had only changed “a bit.”

When students who reported some form of psychological change were asked, “How would you characterize the changes?,” many answered, “I didn’t know the real impact of the atomic bomb.” Some students answered, “I just knew the dangers of the atomic bomb.” Moreover, in response to the question, “How do Americans perceive atomic bombs and atomic bomb victims?,” one student answered, “There is no place to discuss nuclear weapons in the U.S.,” thereby calling into question the issues behind history education in U.S. schools. Another student answered, “We Americans should be ashamed.” It was evident that the testimonies of A-bomb survivors had urged students to consider the “negative” aspects of nuclear power and atomic bombs. Most students tended to regard atomic bombing as an inhumane act, although many Americans continue to believe that the atomic bomb was a necessary evil to end the Second World War.